On being handed the honour by the Queen, Sir Mo said she told him he has been "going too long" and asked him if he has retired.

“This was hard to get access to,” admits Laino, who has been head concierge at the Stafford since 1998 and was named Best Concierge in the World by luxury travel agency network Virtuoso in 2007. “It took a few weeks to arrange. But any concierge worth his salt has the contacts to pull something like that off.”